US Army hospital problems systemic, lawmakers say
Source: Reuters
(Adds Cheney comments, background) By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - Problems with treatment of wounded soldiers that created a scandal at the top U.S. military veterans' hospital are prevalent throughout the Army's health care system, lawmakers said on Monday. Vice President Dick Cheney vowed to fix the substandard conditions at Walter Reed hospital, which have dealt yet another blow to an administration already reeling from public anger over its handing of the Iraq and Afghan wars. Two weeks after The Washington Post reported that some recuperating soldiers at Walter Reed were living in rodent-infested quarters and trapped in a bureaucratic limbo, Army brass apologized on Monday for the crisis at a U.S. House of Representatives hearing. But Democrats were already suggesting the poor treatment of wounded soldiers was linked to what they consider to be a rushed U.S. decision to go to war against Iraq in 2003. Rep. John Tierney, a Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's national security subcommittee, said the problems did not stop with the Washington, D.C., hospital. "I also, unfortunately, feel that these problems go well beyond the walls of Walter Reed, and that they are problems systemic throughout the military health care system," he said. "Is this just another horrific consequence of the terrible planning that went into our invasion of Iraq?" Tierney asked. In any case, he warned, the problems were now likely to get worse with President George W. Bush's recent decision to send more U.S. troops to Iraq. Army Secretary Francis Harvey resigned last week over the scandal. The general in charge of the facility, Maj. Gen. George Weightman, was replaced by Maj. Gen. Eric Schoomaker. Bush has ordered a wide-ranging review of all U.S. veterans facilities. Cheney said on Monday that they wanted to "find out whether similar problems have occurred at other military and VA (Department of Veterans Affairs) hospitals." CHENEY PROMISE Cheney told an audience of military veterans that the administration would "make sure it never happens again ... We're going to fix the problems at Walter Reed, period." The Post revelations were particularly embarrassing to much of official Washington because Bush, senior defense officials and lawmakers have repeatedly visited those in the hospital who served in battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. "These problems are not unique to Walter Reed," said Rep. Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican. "The crushing complexity and glacial pace of outpatient procedures in medical evaluation boards are Army-wide problems." "All the plaster and paint in the world won't cure a system that seems institutionally predisposed to treat wounded soldiers like inconveniences rather than heroes," Davis added. More than 3,100 Americans have been killed in Iraq and more than 23,000 have been wounded, although more than half the wounded have returned to duty. During Monday's hearing, Weightman publicly apologized to wounded soldiers and their families who testified about substandard conditions and bureaucratic neglect. "I promise you we'll do better," said Weightman, who led Walter Reed for about six months until he was fired last week. One of those who testified, Annette McLeod, laid the blame on Weightman's predecessor, retired Maj. Gen. Kenneth Farmer, who commanded Walter Reed for two years until last August. She said Farmer would not see her when she tried to complain about delays in tests and treatment for her husband, Cpl. Wendell McLeod, who suffered head injuries in Iraq.
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